Sick as a Ruff
by Zero unknown
Summary: When the RowdyRuff Boys become sick they first try to ignore it, but later they find that what they have may be more serious then just a cold. The boys try everything to save themselves from this new sickness but will it be enough?
1. part 1

Zero- I don't own the PowerPuff Girls or RowdyRuff Boys.

**Sick as a Ruff**

"Man am I bored." Brick said.

The red RowdyRuff was sitting on a broken wall kicking at the dust bellow his feet making a small trench. Now ten years old he looks just like he did when he was five, just bigger and with short hair again. Sitting next to him was Boomer who was playing with a Yo-Yo, failing miserably to make it sleep.

"Stupid thing sleep already!" Boomer threw down with all his strength and the Yo-Yo string snapped sending the toy through the earth to come out some where near China. "Darn it!"

"You have got to be the stupidest kid on the planet." Butch said as he started to laugh at Boomer. "I mean if we got the stupidest person on earth and put him next to you he would be like "Dude you're so stupid." And that makes you the stupidest on the planet." Butch tried to laugh again but instead went into a fit of sharp coughs. They were so strong he felt like his throat might rip apart and his lungs explode. When he managed to get control of himself again his chest felt like it was on fire and his mouth was filled with phlegm

"Dude you have been coughing all day, just quit it all ready!" Brick shouted when Butch stopped hacking like a fifty year smoker.

"If I could I would dude but I think I might be sick or something." Butch was telling the truth, his stomach was turning over on him but that was the very least of his troubles. His head felt like a knife burning with the fire of a thousand evils was driven in there, he felt hot and dizzy and then there was the problem with his chest. The coughing was bad but he was finding it hard to breathe, and there was the pain in his left side. If Butch had known anything about anatomy he would have known the sharp pain in his chest was where his heart was.

"Awe is poor little Butchie feeling sicky-wickey?" Brick said causing Boomer to fall of the wall and roll round holding his stomach as he laughed his head off.

"Knock it off or I will knock you off!" Butch said followed by a series of light coughs into his hand.

"Yeah whatever, like you could lay a finger on me." Brick said. "But back to the topic at hand, I am bored!"

"We could go beat the PowerPuff Girls up." Boomer suggested as he struggled back to his feet still giggling.

"Dude that is the lamest thing you have said all day I mean it was lamer then lame." Butch said.

"Seriously dude if you can keep to our level of intelligence don't open you mouth." Brick said.

"Well what should we do?" Boomer asked Brick.

"I know, we can go beat up the PowerPuff Girls!" Brick said snapping his fingers as the idea seemed to come out of nowhere.

"That's what I said!" Boomer shouted at Brick.

"Look I am the leader and as such come up with the plans, so shut up." Boomer was forced to shut up to Brick's fool proof logic, the argument well and truly won by him.

* * *

There was a large explosion as the boys made the presence known to the city once more. A few quick optic blasts and there was enough fire and smoke to let the whole city know that the RowdyRuff boys were making trouble once again. Then they only had to wait for the inevitable arrival of the PowerPuff Girls and then they could get to the real fun. The boys, over the years, had become less of a problem for the girls and the city as a whole. They still caused trouble but they seemed to have lost their desire to destroy everything in sight no mater what. The only thing that they really kept was the deep yearning to kill the PowerPuff Girls, as revenge for their own deaths.

"These chumps don't stand a chance against us." Brick said as he watched the people flee for their lives. "I wonder if I have time to play a few games before the Powder-puff losers show up… heh powder-puff losers you are just too damn funny Brick." Brick touched down on the ground and walked through the smoke in the direction of the arcade.

"Hey they got "Mega death killers 2" here Brick!" It seemed Boomer and Butch had reached the arcade before Brick had even thought about it. Boomer was at a machine playing some kind of first person shooter while Butch was playing what looked like a generic beat'um-up game. Brick noticed that Butch was still coughing even while he was playing the game, and was even starting to sweat. What he could not know was that his brother was running a fever of over 105 and was getting worse.

"Just don't get too wrapped up, the PowerPuff's will be here soon and then the real fun can start!" Brick said even while he found himself been pulled to the latest light gun game.

"We are all ready here!" Blossom shouted through the smoke.

"And we are going to kick your butts!" Buttercup said as the smoke started to clear showing the three girls standing there ready to fight.

"You won't get away from us this time." Bubbles said thinking of the last time they had ran into the RowdyRuff boys. The PowerPuff's had gotten the boys on the ropes but at the last moment they had escaped by using a passing train.

"Aww come on I was just about to get the high score." Boomer whined as the stopped playing his video game.

"Stop whining ya baby." Butch said still coughing every few seconds. He was feeling worse then ever but would not let anyone know, he was not going to be beaten by a stomach bug… even if it made him feel so bad. The worst thing was the pain in his heart, it was getting worse every moment that past by him and making him feel weak.

"Girls take on your counterpart and make sure they don't escape this time!" Blossom ordered before making a flying tackle at Brick who could do little to block it. Bubbles tried to attack Boomer with a quick punch to the head but the blue Rowdy jumped into the air and crashed out of the arcade roof.

"Guess that just leaves you and me girly." Butch said feeling his legs trembling with each step he took forward. "I am going to rearrange that pretty face of yours and then…" Butch stopped as he doubled over with a coughing fit, this one worse then any he had ever had in his life. When it stopped he felt like all his energy had been drained out of him, his heart was on fire and so was his head. A thick coating of sweat covered all of his skin and he was struggling to get enough air to breathe with, taking big gasps of it like a man who was drowning.

"Are you ok?" Buttercup asked when she saw how bad Butch was looking, his skin was so pale and he was clutching onto his chest right above his heart.

"Never better, so just get ready to have you butt handed to you." Butch tried to take another step but stumbled and went to his knees instead. His vision was doubling now and he felt like his brain was swimming in a pool of water.

"You don't look so hot." Buttercup said with some genuine concern, Butch looked like he was dieing right in front of her.

"I told you i...i…i..." Butch's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to floor still clutching his chest. High above him Boomer was doing his best to fight Bubbles, but still in the arcade Brick was pushing Blossom back. It was while he was kicking Blossom that Brick saw that Butch was down and hardly breathing.

"Butch!" Brick abandoned Blossom without a second thought, going to where his brother lay. "What did you do to him?" Brick shot his eyes as Buttercup who had not moved since the fight started.

"Me... i… he… I never touched him, he just fell down." Buttercup could not understand what was going on, she had come expecting a good fight and instead she thought Butch had just died at her feet for no reason.

"Boomer get your butt here now!" Brick shouted and with in half a second Boomer was standing next to him, all to glad to get away from Bubbles. When he did arrive though he found himself wishing he was still up there fighting with Bubbles.

"What happened to Butch, is he all right?" Boomer asked as Brick checked Butch's vitals.

"He's alive but something is really wrong with him, we got to get him to a doctor or something." Brick slung Butch over his shoulder in a fireman's carry before he looked at the three PowerPuff Girls. "This fight 'aint over and if you try to stop us saving Butch then I will destroy all three of you."

"We won't stop you Brick, go save your brother." Blossom said as she stood out of the way. Brick was shocked, would he have let the girls go in the situation was reversed? No probably not, he would kill them all by fair means or by foul… even if he would prefer to win a fair fight.

* * *

"I am coming so you may cease the knocking on my door, desist in hitting your hand on the entrance way to my home as I, Mojo Jojo, am heading to said door to open it. This better not be another salesman." Mojo said as he undid the vast array of locks that held his door in place. When he did open the door he was surprised to see the RowdyRuff boys standing outside, well two where standing one was been held up by the other two.

"Boys what's going on here?" Mojo hardly saw the boys now, they seemed to like living on their own and he respected their wishes… as long as it suited him and his goals.

"Butch is sick and you're going to cure him." Brick said as he pushed past Mojo and went deeper into his lair. "That or I kill you monkey." Brick added without even looking back at Mojo who had turned as pale as Butch was.

"I will do my best, but you must know that I can not guarantee that I can cure him, he looks very sick." Mojo said.

"For your own health Butch's better get a whole lot better." Boomer said. "Now where can we put him?"

* * *

"Hey Brick why in the hell are we at Mojo's?" Butch had gained conciseness once more, but he still felt too weak to move and the pain in his chest seemed to have gotten worse.

"You're sick dude, I brought you here so the monkey can patch you up and we can go back to kicking the PowerPuff Girls butt." Brick had been pacing back and forth while Mojo was working on Butch's readings. Boomer was somewhere else and right then Brick did not care too much about what he was doing. This was the first time in hours that Butch had woken up and Brick was taking it as a sign that he must be getting better.

"Don't tell me we lost to the sissies because I have a damn cold…" Butch's head went limp again as he slipped back into his coma.

"Dude wake up!" Brick tried shaking Butch but he might as well have been trying to wake up a rock.

"The results are here." Mojo said. The maniacal monkey had been working with the best of his equipment trying to find out what was causing Butch to be so sick. His first thought had been that it might be the Amoeba boy's sickness but the traits were different and it was not spreading anywhere near as fast. Since then he had come up with very few workable theories, all his hopes were with the results of his tests. If they could not tell him what was wrong with Butch he could kiss is ass goodbye.

"Spit it out dorko." Brick stopped shaking Butch and went over to see what Mojo had come up with in the last few hours.

"The computer says No… what that can not be right?" Mojo flicked over the page and scratched his head. "Oh sorry wrong page. Let's see what we have here. Oh-oh."

"Oh-oh what?" Brick said as Mojo's eyes flashed with panic as he glanced over the results the computer had given him.

"Now I want you to know that if I could help you I would, I am very attached to my hide." Mojo started backing away from Brick who was floating ominously closer to him.

"This better not be going where I think this is going or else I would be forced to beat the crap out of you." Brick was now face to face with Mojo, trying his best not to be sick off the smell of banana breath.

"I have no idea what is wrong with your brother, I just don't know enough about beings such as your selves. Damn it I am an engineer not a doctor Brick! You need someone who is an expert with working on super powered beings such as your self."

"That's to bad Mojerk, looks like I got to hit you until candy comes out!" Brick balled up a fist ready to flatten Mojo, but the evil genius came up with a fool proof escape plan just in the nick of time.

"Is that Elvis?" Mojo shouted as he pointed to the empty space behind Brick, the result was nothing short of perfect.

"Where?" Brick said as he turned around giving Mojo Jojo plenty of time to scurry away to safety. "I want to pound that fat idiots face in for getting "Jailhouse rock" stuck in my head for a week… oh great now it's back in there." Brick looked back to see that Mojo had escaped while he was searching for the king of rock and roll.

"Man Mojo has a crummy house." Boomer walked through the sliding doors after searching round for anything fun to do. He had caused some minor explosions and pushed every button that was on display but now was starting to feel bored, there weren't even any video games to play here.

"Boomer did you see that Monkey run past you?" Brick asked.

"Err no dude, why?"

"Man now I have to find him to beat the snot out of him." Brick clicked in his fingers. "He failed, he 'aint got a clue as to what is making Butch sick or how to make him better."

"That's so weak…" Boomer coughed into his hand so lightly Brick missed it entirely. "… I thought he was supposed to be some really smart guy and stuff."

"Yeah well he said he's better with robots and junk then with living things and…" Brick stopped as he noticed that Boomer was coughing again. Boomer was trying his best to hold in the coughs and all he was managing to do was make them smaller and quieter, but it was getting harder and harder to do even that.

"What's that matter Brick?" Boomer asked as he steeled himself against anymore coughs.

"How long have you been coughing?" Brick asked knowing Boomer would not lie to him, not with something so serious.

"Since this morning, it was not so bad earlier but I was coughing my guts out back in Mojo's lab." Boomer said. Now he confessed he could no longer hold back and a large hacking cough came out of him, covering his open hand in phlegm and snot. He was starting to feel the pain in his chest but so far he was sure he had no fever and was feeling pretty healthy apart from the coughing.

"Butch started coughing yesterday and now he can't even stay awake for a few minutes." Brick half said to Boomer and half to himself, speaking his thoughts out loud as if that might help him think through this.

"You don't think I have what he has?" Boomer was suddenly very scared; the thought that he might have the same thing Butch had never even crossed his mind. When he was coughing his lungs out the thought had been lurking deep in the back of his mind but he never let it actually form and take him. It was so easy to deny the truth when he felt fine, but Butch had been feeling fine right up to a few hours earlier.

"If you got it then that means I must have it." Brick said. "It looks like we have no choice, if we are going to live through this we are going to have to do the hardest thing in the world."

"Convince America to take up the metric system?" Boomer suggested.

"No harder then that."

"Create a deep and meaningful reality TV show which enriches and betters the lives of those who watch while keeping original and not resorting to humiliation?"

"Jeez not that hard Boomer." Brick said as he slung Butch over his shoulder. "Just follow me dumdum."

* * *

"What do you think was wrong with Butch?" Bubbles asked for about the millionth time that day, and still had yet to get any real answer.

"Bubbles for the millionth-billionth time I don't care what happened to that jerk!" Buttercup was nearly at the point of pulling out her own hair in frustration.

"Don't tell me you aren't the least bit interested in what was wrong with Butch." Bubbles said.

"We have been over this before, I am not in the little bit interested with anything to do with that stupid boy." Buttercup said. "I never have and I never will care about anything to do with Butch. This is not one of those stupid fan-fictions where we get together with those disgusting boys."

"But I think those fan stories are cute!" Bubbles said.

"You would think that, you head is full of cute pink fluffy things so I guess you can't stay connected to a little thing I like to call reality." Buttercup said. "We are in reality where we are mortal enemies with the RowdyRuff Boys, we are in reality where those three are insensitive jerks, and we are in reality where they are the three dumbest kids on planet earth. There is no way that we are going to ever, ever end up with those three boys."

"But in your diary you said you thought the green Ruff was kind of cute." Bubbles then slapped both of her hands over her mouth as she realised what she had just said. At that moment Bubbles knew just how the short English man felt when he said to the worlds strongest Scotsman "Hey nice dress."

"You read my diary?" Buttercup got off the couch and started to walk ever closer to Bubbles.

"Well you left it lying around… in that safe… under the floor boards with ritualistic curses binding it shut… and I only read the pages with writing on them… eep!" Bubbles made the wise move and ran for her very life, moving at super sonic speed with her sister right behind her. What saved Bubbles from been mauled by Buttercup was the proximity alarm going off. The alarm was set to go off in only two situations, one if a door to door salesman was coming and two if one of the girl's enemies was close to the house.

"Girls to the lab!" Blossom's blur shouted as it went past Bubbles and Buttercup. Bubbles felt relief flow through her body as she realised she was safe, Buttercup could not chase her.

"Don't think this is over, as soon as I can I am going Mange on you ass." Buttercup said smiling like a shark. The relief Bubbles had felt left as quickly as it had come, she would need to think of a way out of this soon or hope the alarm kept going until Armageddon.

* * *

The lab, where professor Utonium does… well no one is really sure what he does but it usually ends up with some accidental invention. Right now the esteemed professor and his three daughters are looking at the security monitor awaiting to see who it is who set the alarms off. If it was one of the girls enemies the professor would push the button which activated the house defences and would blast them to Timbuktu, if it was a salesman then the professor would push the button that would blast them to… well you get the idea.

"Who do you think it could be?" Bubbles asked in a whisper.

"I don't know anyone stupid enough to come here after that last salesman came over trying to sell double glazing to us…. And Bubbles you don't have to whisper, this is a sound proof room." Blossom said.

"Oh sorry." Bubbles said in a normal tone of voice. "I wonder who it is?"

"Well if you can be patient for about twenty seconds you can see for yourself." Buttercup said. Exactly nineteen seconds later the whole Utonium family was shocked to see who it was that had tripped the proximity alarm. Standing outside the girls door was the RowdyRuff Boys, well two were stranding the other was been held up by the other two.

"I knew those guys were dumb but they must have known we would be ready for them since that whole Boomer incident five years ago." Blossom said when she saw the boys at the door.

"Who cares, waste them professor!" Buttercup said.

"No wait I don't think they're here to hurt us… Butch still looks really sick." Bubbles said.

Brick knocked on the door with his free hand, well he actual pounded against the door, if it had not been made of a super tough metal then there would be a rather large hole at the front of the PowerPuff Girls home. It was when he started to knock that the girls could see he had a large white flag tied to his wrist.

"This has got to be a trick of some sort, push the button professor and get rid of them while we can."

"This doesn't look like a trick to me, Butch seems to be really ill and I don't think Brick would ever even pretend to surrender. It's not in his character." Blossom said.

"I think Brick is saying something, is there any way we could hear him?" Bubbles asked when she noticed that Bricks mouth was moving. The Professor pushed a few buttons and then a microphone outside the house turned on letting them hear what Brick was saying.

"…the door you stinking girls right this second or I will break it down! Don't pretend you're not in. Look we come in peace… man does that sound weak… we don't want to fight you, Butch is real sick and Boomer's getting bad himself." Brick stopped and coughed a few times. "I think I'm starting to get it to. We have no one else to turn to, please open the door and let us in." Brick waits for a moment longer but gets no response. "Look I know you don't like me and you have every reason not to trust me but if you don't help us no one else will. If you do you can name your price, anything you want… we will give up our powers, stop trying to kill you hell we will become goodie goodies if you can help us."

"Brick no we cant do that…" Boomer's voice had gotten weaker in the short time it had taken them to reach the girls house, the coughing had gotten steadily worse for him and was starting to strain his throat.

"Boomer I am the leader so you will do what I say." Brick said. "If I have to give up everything to make sure you two knuckle heads stay alive then that's what I will do, after all if you both die who will I boss about? And don't forget it's in my best interest to get a cure pronto."

"For a moment there I thought you were going soft on me dude." Boomer said with a forced weak smile across his face, he could see how much it was taking Brick just to be standing here. Boomer had also seen Bricks face when he tied a white flag to his wrist, the expression of sheer disgust and loathing but he did it any way.

The door slowly opened and standing there were the PowerPuff Girls looking so tense that if either Boomer or Brick so much as coughed a fight might have broken out. Luckily the boys managed to hold back until they had been invited into the house.

"Your conditions are accepted, you have to promise never to use your powers for evil again and we will do everything we can to help you." Blossom spoke in a diplomats voice which set Brick's teeth on edge, the sheer prissiness of it would have been enough to make him sick in normal times… but this was as far from normal as it could be.

"Very well, my brothers and me promise never to use our powers for evil ever again." Brick said. "Now can we come in?"

"That's it; you just say you won't ever use them… I bet you will break that promise the second you and your brothers are better." Buttercup said. She was not sure how she had been convinced to even hear these boys out; they were liars through and through. Buttercup regretted not taking the chance to vaporise the three of them, one button push was all it would take and then they would be gone forever.

"Hey we maybe a lot of things but one thing we always do is keep our promises, can you say the same?" Brick glared at Buttercup, not even seeing the others anymore. It was all he could do to stop himself from rushing at that smug face and hitting it until there was nothing left but a red pulp.

"Buttercup enough" Blossom seemed to hold as much control over her sisters as Brick held over his brothers, the second Blossom had spoken Buttercup took a step back and the tension in the air lifted a little. "Come in Brick." No one had ever thought they would hear Blossom acting so civilised to a RowdyRuff Boy, least of all Brick. For a moment all he could do was stand there while his brain tried to get to grips with what was going on.

"Hey we going to just stand here all day or what?" Boomer asked.

"No dude, lets go in."

* * *

"So the symptoms start with a mild cough and escalate to this level with in a day?" Professor Utonium was looking into Butch's eyes with a penlight and noticing they hardly reacted to the light, a very bad sign.

"Symptoms?" Boomer asked, his voice now sounding closer to Bricks then his usual smooth voice. He looked to Brick for answers and all he got was a shrug, Brick had no idea what the word meant either.

"Umm… the effects of the sickness you have." Professor Utonium said offhanded as he was paying very little attention to the other two Ruffs'. "Well it does not seem to be too good, all three of you have this sickness and it seems Butch is having no luck at beating it himself."

"Mojo couldn't even tell us that much…" Brick stopped for a moment and turned to Blossom, who was keeping guard on him. "…Would beating the stuffing out of Mojo be classed as using our powers for evil?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Bubbles asked, she was standing over Boomer not the least bit worried that he might try anything.

"That's between me and the monkey." Brick said.

"Beating up anyone for no reason is wrong, so no." Blossom said.

"Ah shoot." Brick said. "Mojo is one lucky monkey; I was going to make it so he would be eating his bananas with a straw." Brick sounded incredibly disappointed, and he was.

"Well I think I might be able to give you a few answers that Mojo could not." Professor Utonium said. "The first been what is causing your problems in the first place. You three have a virus which appears to be attacking your respiratory system with brutal effectiveness. As best as I can tell this was a normal stomach bug that Butch must have caught a few days ago."

"Whoa hold up." Brick said. "You're telling me that Butch is dieing for some crappy twenty-four hour stomach bug! That is so weak."

"No Brick it is no normal stomach bug, not anymore anyhow." Professor Utonium picked up a clipboard and started to flick through its pages. "If I remember correctly you boys were made slightly different to my girls. The biggest difference been the binding agent used for you. I used Chemical X for the PowerPuff Girls but Mojo was forced to use toxic waste on you three. According to these tests when Him brought you back he must have used the same formula…"

"No he didn't." Boomer was feeling terrible now, his fever was running rampant and the pain in his chest was so great he was sure he would drop dead from it any second now. "Him just used magic to bring us back, pulled us out of hell or wherever we were."

"Well whatever the method the results are the same, you boys have a large amount of toxic waste in your bodies and it's started to affect you badly. The virus was normal until it infected Butch; the toxic waste in his body mutated it into the virus that is now killing him."

"Professor is there any chance we might have caught it or anyone else the boys have had contact with?" Blossom asked.

"No, the virus has mutated to be very specific." The Professor showed them a picture of the virus magnified to fill up the whole page of paper. "This virus is perfect for getting past the RowdyRuff Boys immune system but would be instantly destroyed in anyone else body. There is no risk of an outbreak like in the Amoeba boy incident."

"Hey guys I don't want to sound like a sissy but I don't feel too good." Boomer said just before he fell back into the bed and into the same coma that Butch was in.

"Boomer!" Brick zipped off the bed he was on and was beside his brother before any of the girls could even think about acting. "Come on you are not giving up that easy, get up this second! That's an order Boomer." Brick shouted as he tried to rouse Boomer but all he got was a slight flicker of Boomer's eyelids and then nothing.

"Brick…" Blossom stopped there, what was there that she could say? What could make this all right, make the fact that both of Brick's brothers were dieing go away?

"Two down and one to go, the RowdyRuff Boys wiped out by a goddamn virus." Brick said. "If you are going to help us then you better hurry, 'coz I have a feeling that if you called for us tomorrow you would find us grave men."


	2. part 2

That beep was like a clock, steady and constant and a fixture in every hospital scene on TV. The beep that meant someone was alive, but also the countdown to their death when there would be a single never ending beep. Two of these machines were running now, both for boys far too young to ever think that the infamous beep would play for them. On the bed on the right Boomer lay, he had no need for much more then monitoring equipment but the bed on the far left was a different story. Butch had become so weak now he needed help just to keep his lungs moving it seemed, and a cold cloth was over his head doing its best to keep in temperature down.

Buttercup sat in a fold up chair next to Butch's bed having refused to leave him alone. Brick had made a joke about her wanting to be next to her sweetheart which had almost earned him a black eye. While the others seemed satisfied to leave Butch and Boomer alone Buttercup could not bring herself to do it. This could still be a trick and she was not going to fall for it, not this time.

It was while she sat watching the monitors that Butch came to again. His eyes opened slowly and winced against even the soft light of the lab, the pain own been matched with the fire in his chest.

"Where… I?" His voice sounded like he had swallowed a dozen razorblades and that he was talking underwater. "Where am I?" He asked once again this time in a slightly louder voice which caused the fire to jump from his chest and ravage his throat.

"You're at our house." Buttercup said. She got off the chair and went to the bed so she could hear what Butch was saying.

"Water, need water." Butch made a few weak coughs as he tried to move his body but found it to weak to do anything but shake. His energy seemed taken from him, his muscles unable to do even the simplest of tasks.

"Sure." Buttercup poured a glass of water from the pitcher next to the bed and helped Butch to drink. All thoughts of him tricking her were gone now; he was just to dumb to act this well for this long.

"Thanks." This was possibly the first time Butch had thanked somebody for anything in his life and actually meant it. It was as much of a shock to hear it come from his own mouth as it was for Buttercup to hear it. When he had finished drinking the water he felt much better, the fire seemed to be out and he could talk clearly again.

"Tell me how am I doing?" Butch asked taking off the mask on his face and looking at Buttercup.

"You have a stomach bug that the professor should have fixed up in no time." Buttercup lied. "By this time tomorrow I will be kicking your butt as usual." Butch made a weak laugh at this which instantly became a fit of coughs instead.

"Now I know why you're a goodie, you suck at telling lies." Butch said at last. "So I'm dieing then huh? Not what I expected, not what expected at all. I always thought that if I was going to go it would be fighting against you. You were the greatest challenge in my life, a girl nearly as strong as I was and almost as good a fighter. But I guess I can make do with this, yeah it's not so bad. Can I…?" Butch never finished the sentence before his eyes closed once more and he went back into his deep sleep.

"Butch?" Buttercup asked and got no response. She wondered if she should have gotten the professor or at least Brick. But it was to late now, and there would be other times for Brick to talk with Butch. It was as she thought this that Butch made her a liar once more.

The boys breathing suddenly became incredibly sharp and he began to spasm uncontrollably. The monitors went berserk as Butch's vitals jumped all over the place while the virus did its dirty work on him. Alarms started to buzz which called everyone else back into the infirmary part of the lab. Brick was leading the group with the remaining two PowerPuff Girls following close behind him.

"Butch dude what's happening?" Brick gabbed onto his brother's arm and tried to hold him still which took almost all of his strength. Butch's face was the perfect representation of agony, scrunched up and pulled at the same time while he silently screamed.

"Great Scot!" Professor Utonium said as he came into the room and saw Butch. "Blossom and Buttercup hold Butch down; Bubbles come over here and help me." The girls reacted instantly as the professor ran to the bed wheeling out the medical tray.

"What's happening to him?" Brick asked, unable to mask the fear in his voice as he saw the chaos going on around his brother.

"The virus seems to have advanced much faster then I predicted it would, its causing a respiratory failure in your brother. I am giving him a shot which should stabilise him." Professor Utonium got out a specially sharpened needle and then shoved it strait into Butch's chest pumping the drugs strait into his heart. For a moment Butch seemed to relax as the drugs took effect but with in a few seconds he was bucking around harder then before. The virus was too powerful now and even the drugs were unable to stop it now. The professor tried to think of something else he could try when they heard it, that long beep which means the end.

"By Newton he's flat-lining!" Professor Utonium pushed the tray away and pulled out the electric paddles and some other equipment. "Blossom and Buttercup you can let go now Butch isn't moving. Bubbles listen very carefully I need you to put this over Butch's mouth and squeeze it over and over but when I say clear you stop touching Butch and pull the mask away from him." Bubbles nodded as she started to force the air into Butch's lungs while the professor charged the paddles up. He was sure the level he put them to would kill a normal person but would be enough to start a RowdyRuff heart.

"Clear!" Bubbles instantly pulled away while the professor placed the paddles of Butch's chest and sent the blast of electricity through his body. The beep went on with out stopping and the line remained flat. "Ok Bubbles try again; I am going to try a higher voltage." Professor Utonium set the machine to its highest possible setting and then charged up the paddles once more. "Clear!" The Professor put the paddles down and instantly Butch jumped off the bed as his whole body spasmed but still there was no change. "Again, Clear!" Professor Utonium did not even wait for Bubbles to start again before he gave another shock to Butch, and again nothing changed.

"Darn, ok one more time everybody clear!" The professor, for one last time, put the paddles down and tried to shock Butch's heart into starting again. Everyone watched the monitor expecting for the line to jump up and down again and for that beep to finally stop, but it did not happen. Bubbles went to put the mask over Butch again but the professor stopped her. "Don't bother sweetie… time of death is 15:13 hours." The professor said as he looked down at his watch.

"What do you mean time of death?" Brick was livid as he grabbed the professor round his neck and hoisted him up into the air. "Butch is not dead! Keep working on him, another shock might do it!" Brick screamed at the professor but the professor Utonium stayed calm.

"Brick it's to late, there is no way to bring Butch back." Brick's arms seemed to turn into silly putty as he let the professor drop to the floor. "His heart has been stopped for to long now, I am very sorry Brick but Butch is dead and I can't bring him back."

"That can't be… Butch can't die, not like this." Brick stumbled on the floor as the world seemed to shake around him and a new feeling entered his heart. The new feeling was grief.

"Brick." Blossom tried to think what it would be like to lose one of her sisters and realised she could not. Brick was going through something she prayed she would never have to go through.

Professor Utonium went to Butch's body and turned off the equipment and started to pull the covers over the boys head.

"Don't you touch him!" Brick shouted. The red RowdyRuff went over to his dead brother and picked him up in his arms. "If you can't bring him back then I know someone who can. Anyone tries to stop me and I will rip them to pieces." Brick vanished in a flash of red light and through a newly made hole in the ceiling.

"Blossom follow him and make sure he doesn't doing anything reckless." The professor ordered as he watched Brick fly off in the direction of Townsville.

"Right." Blossom said just before she disappeared in a blast of pink light which followed after the trail of red.

* * *

Him's domain is one that combined the fires of hell with Feng-shui and a little of the YMCA. The master of evil sat on a pink sofa watching soap-operas looking with an eye of jealously.

"I thought I was evil but these script writers are really pushing the envelope." Him said in his strange womanly voice. "Look at that finishing with a cliff hanger every time, people who do that deserve to burn in heck!"

Brick crashed through the roof just as the end credits had finished.

"What do I owe this pleasure?" Him asked still speaking in his strange voice. "Oh I see you have had an unfortunate loss, my sympathies Brick." The lie was so thick even someone as dense as Brick could see right through it, but Brick needed Him and so restrained himself.

"Bring him back, like you did before." Brick said as he put Butch down in front of Him.

"Oh I am sorry Brick but I don't do repeat performances." Him said smiling like a madman. "I brought him back once so I won't do it again."

"I don't care if you do repeat performances or not, you will bring him back or I will strangle you with your own intestines!" Brick grabbed hold of Him's pink scarf and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Listen here you little brat!" Him's voice snapped and became a vicious thing more befitting the king of evil. "Not only won't I do it but I can't do it, there are rules that even I follow. You had you second chance and you blew it, it's been five years and you have failed to destroy the PowerPuff Girls. And now you have all promised to never do evil again which means you no longer fall under my domain. My powers can no longer be used to help you even if I wanted to." Him pushed Brick off with a flick of his claw and then vanished in a cloud of pink smoke leaving Brick alone with the body of his brother.

* * *

The city of Townsville is one of the world's largest and most diverse cities, with everything you could possibly want. Blossom now understood that better then ever as she was forced to search the whole city for Brick. She had lost his trail when Brick had moved through the cloud cover and now she was forced to make sweeps of the whole city for any clues. Eventually she found Brick in the Townsville mountain range sitting on the tallest mountain. He was sitting in the snow hugging his knees as he rocked back and forth. Lying next to him was Butch, the bed covers pulled over him to protect his face from the snow.

Blossom landed behind Brick so lightly that he never heard her, not even the soft crunch of snow been crushed under foot. Now she was close enough to hear that Brick was crying, more then that he was openly weeping. She could hear every sob and now could see the tears drop from his cheeks and melt the snow below. This seemed like a massive invasion of privacy and Blossom was about to try and leave quietly when Brick coughed, the tears flew from his eyes as he jerked forward as the violent hacking coughs escaped his body. Blossom made a surprised noise when Brick coughed and this time Brick did hear her.

"Oh great the girly gets to see me cry like a little baby, can anything else go wrong before I die!" Brick shouted at the heavens and received no response as the heavens usually gave. "Well go ahead and laugh it up, the great and mighty Brick is crying over his brother."

"Brick I would never laugh." Blossom said. "I don't know what you're going through but…"

"That's right you don't know what I am going through." Brick said. "You don't know what its like to die twice, neither do I really but I remember the first time well enough. That slipping feeling as your body is lost and your pulled away from the world, it's the worst feeling in the world and Butch just went through it again… and this time tomorrow so will I. We're ten years old and going to all die, so I think I have the right to cry even if it is the sissiest thing in the world. But so help me if you ever tell a living soul that you saw me cry then I will find away back and will haunt you to your dieing day."

"I promise never to tell anyone you cried Brick if it will make you feel better but you don't have to hide it." Blossom said with a hand over her heart. "You lost your brother, anyone would cry in your place."

"Anyone but a RowdyRuff Boy." Brick carefully picked Butch up and held him as he started to fly into the air again.

"Is he heavy, do you want help to carry him?" Blossom asked.

"He 'aint heavy, he's my brother."

* * *

"Welcome back Brick." The professor said when Blossom and Brick returned. "How are you feeling?"

"Worse, but I don't think I am going to faint any time soon so you can stop hovering around me Blossom." Brick had noticed how Blossom had been keeping close to him ever since they had met at the mountains.

"Hmm... uh what… no I wasn't I mean…" Blossom seemed to snap out of a day dream while Brick put Butch back on the bed he had died on.

"How is Boomer doing?" Brick sounded different now, he no longer sounded like a cocky ten year old but like a hundred year old man. Some of the youth had been slapped out of him and in a way it was more horrible then having the obnoxious jerk.

"Not good I'm afraid; he seemed to be in what I call stage four of the virus." The professor said. "Stage one is initial sickness, stage two it's the coughing, stage three the coma, stage four the virus starts to spread, stage five and it starts attacking and stage six is the final and fatal stage."

"Yippee I'm only stage two." Brick said as he sat down on the edge of the empty bed. "So far that's the best news I have had all day."

"Well I might have some better news for you Brick; I might have a solution to this problem." Brick instantly seemed to perk up with a dubious optimism. "I believe that if you and Boomer were given a blood transfusion from my girls then it maybe what you need to beat the virus. You see the pure chemical X in the PowerPuff Girls blood will work on you like a vaccine, giving your bodies the necessary defences"

"I did not understand a word you just said." Brick admitted. "Just tell me if it will cure me and Boomer."

"Well it should do in theory but… Listen Brick, Boomer is very sick and I don't know if the transfusion will help him or kill him at this point. And even if it works there is no telling what the after affects might be. Mixing your bonding agent with chemical X could lead to another mutation, one that might be fatal or at the very least could knock out your powers. If I had more time I could predict the reaction, but the longer we wait the less chance of working this has."

"So it's risky, that's the way RowdyRuff's like it." Brick said smiling. "What have I got to lose?"

"Erm Professor which one of us has to give the boys a blood transfusion?" Bubbles looked a little pale herself now as she asked the Professor the seemingly innocent question.

"Well according to my tests Brick's blood type matches with Blossom while Boomer's matches yours, so both of you will have to give the transfusion." Bubbles swallowed hard when the professor said that.

"And will this involve needles?" Bubbles asked one final question.

"Well of course it will involve needles honey." Bubbles then went completely white and felt butterflies flying around in her stomach. "Are you all right?"

"I hate needles, they are so scary." Bubbles said.

"You are the only one who can give Boomer the transfusion Bubbles, please give it to him… I'll do anything. If you want I will get on my knees and beg." And to Bubbles Horror Brick did indeed get down on his knees. "I'm begging you, please help my brother… he's the only one I got left."

"Get up Brick please." Bubbles suddenly did not look sick so much as embarrassed as Brick bowed his head to her. She quickly went over to him and put him back on his feet where he so rightfully belonged. "Of course I will help Boomer; I just don't like needles is all."

"Thank you." Brick said quietly, hating the taste of the words in his mouth.

* * *

It was not long until everything was ready for the transfusion. Boomer and Bubbles where on beds next to each other as were Blossom and Brick; between them was the transfusion apparatus.

"Now this will only still a little Bubbles." The professor said putting the needle in as quickly as he could. Bubbles made a little "eep" noise as the sharp needle went in but she found out it was no where near as bad as she thought it might be. Boomer never even knew he had a needle put in him, he was still unconscious.

"Now I think a pint should just about do it, your going to feel a little woozy after this Bubbles so try to lie still and tell me if you feel like you might be sick." Professor Utonium said.

With Bubbles and Boomer seen to the professor went over to Brick and Blossom. Brick was starting to show signs that he was going into phase three, he was running a high fever and complaining of pains in his chest. If this did not work then nothing would save the RowdyRuff Boys. With out saying a word the professor put the needles into Brick and Blossom and started the transfusion.

"Huh seems weird that the first time we met you only wanted to kill me… now look. You are actually trying to save me, just don't feel right to me." Brick said as Blossoms blood started to flow into his own body.

"That's because you're a bad guy and don't understand things like forgiveness and compassion." Blossom said.

"Weakness if you ask me, you won't ever see me doing good except in those third rate fan fictions on the web." Brick started to feel a little weird now, his whole body was tingling and his head feel light as air. "Uh man do I feel weird." Brick's head started to sway like a drunk's and his vision first doubled then tripled before starting to spin.

"Professor something is happening to Brick!" Blossom shouted out as Brick went limp and seemed to fall asleep.

"He may have just gone into phase three of the sickness." The professor said when he went over to Brick checking his pulse. "Odd is pulse is stronger then before, must be the effect of the pure chemical X blood in his system. I guess we will just have to wait and see if they live of die."

* * *

Three hours can become a life time in the right situations, it's very true. The time it takes to watch a film or get an answer from AOL customer services and realise you should never have used it in the first place. For the Utoniums the wait seemed at least a dozen life times, the transfusions finished two hours previously and since then there was no sign of either Brick or Boomer waking up. But in that third and final hour Brick did manage to wake up, and things did not go quite as everyone had expected.

"Where am I?" Brick jumped off the bed and landed on his feet, he was instantly scanning the room and the people in it. "Who are you and what am I doing here?" Brick asked when he saw the PowerPuff girls and the professor.

"Brick you're all right, are you feeling better?" Blossom asked when she saw Brick up and looking remarkable better.

"How do you know my name?" Brick asked. "And answer my questions or I am out of here."

"Brick what is the last thing you remember?" Professor Utonium asked stroking his chin as he watched Brick's strange reaction.

"Remember… nothing dude." Brick said. "I know my own name and that I am a RowdyRuff Boy which means I can kick your butts if I have to… oh crap my brothers! Where are Butch and Boomer?" Brick sounded different to before, his voice now having neither meanness to it or a loss of innocence.

"Professor what's wrong, has he lost his memory or something?" Buttercup asked.

"I was afraid this might happen… I believe that Brick has been reset." Professor Utonium said. "The chemical X is a much stronger binding agent then toxic waste ever could be. Brick and I suppose Boomer's toxic waste has been destroyed and replaced by the chemical X. This has effectively reset Brick to the moment he was created, as if he was made with Chemical X and not toxic waste."

"Is anyone going to start explaining what going on to me?" Brick shouted out.

"Professor if they don't have toxic waste in them what effects might this have." Blossom asked.

"Well I can't be sure but I think it would remove all the flaws they had before." The professor said. "In simpler terms I would think Brick is no longer evil."

"Me evil?" Brick said. "Why would you think I'm evil… if it was the threats I didn't mean them it's just… well I am a little bit confused."

"Sit down son I have a story to tell you, and you might not like it very much." The professor led Brick to a small room where he would explain the boy's life story to him.

* * *

Boomer woke a little while later with the same problems as Brick had done when he woke up. This time they were ready and Brick took his brother to one side to explain to him everything that had been told to him.

"You mean we were really that bad." Boomer said as he looked at the photos Brick had been given. "But why would we want to do all that?"

"The Professors theory seems solid enough, the toxic waste in our bodies made us defective giving us aggressive natures as well as suppressing our conscience." Brick said.

"Wow is it me or does he seem way smarter then before." Bubbles said as she listened in to the boy's conversation.

"That wouldn't be hard, if he could figure out one plus one that would be a huge improvement for a RowdyRuff Boy." Buttercup said. "Maybe some of Blossoms smarts rubbed off on him when he got some of her blood."

"Professor what are you thinking about?" Blossom had decided it was wrong to eavesdrop on the boys while they talked so stayed by the professor while he sat at his desk. The professor had been staring off into space and tapping a pencil on the desk for a while now and that was always a sign that he was lost in deep thought.

"Oh I was thinking about the boys and what is to be done with them now they are no longer evil." Professor Utonium answered. "They maybe good now but they did do a lot of bad things, they might be forced to pay for the crimes the committed when they were evil. If I had a little time I know I could convince everyone that there was no need but they might have to spend a little time in juvenile prison. And when I do get them out there is the matter of where they can stay… oh so many problems and so little time."

* * *

There are certain temptations in life which nobody can resist no matter how hard they might try. One is the temptation to look down when some one says "Don't look down." Another is the temptation to punch certain politicians in the face. For Boomer another of these great temptations was presented, the big red button. In the lab there were many different inventions that did a million different things and Boomer could ignore them all… all but this one. A single big red button, with a sign bellow which said "Do not push!" in bright yellow letters. Boomer knew he should not push it, yet his hand was all ready out and pushing down on the button. Another victim of the big red button.

"Boomer what did you do?" Brick asked when the circle device in the middle of the room started to flash and make a lot of noises usually reserved for science fiction films.

"Oh-oh." Boomer said.

The machine in the middle of the lab looked like it was about to explode when it filled with what looked like a mirror that reflected not the lab as it was but some twisted version of Townsville. Then there was a huge pull in the room, like that of a black hole. Brick grabbed onto a door frame just in time, the suction tugged at him but he held his place. Boomer was less fortunate as he was not close enough to anything to hold onto. The blue RowdyRuff was pulled into the portal with a loud scream as he tried to fly away and failed.

"Hold on Boomer I'm coming!" Brick let go of the door frame and went in after Boomer.

The PowerPuff Girls and professor Utonium ran into the room just in time to see Brick been pulled into the portal.

"Oh no they activated the dimensional gate; Girls quickly go after them before the power runs..." As the Professor spoke there was a great buzzing noise and then the portal collapsed as the gate ran out of power. "…out."

"Quickly professor power the gate back up and we can get those two idiots back." Blossom said.

"I can't do that right away, the power has to build up again and that could take a little while." Professor Utonium said. "The boys will just have to hold on a little while."

"Where did they go then?" Bubbles asked.

"The last coordinates I set into the gate… to the PowerPunk Girls world."

* * *

"Whoa man was that a trip." Brick said as he landed on the other side of the gate. "Boomer how doing?"

"I'm cool dude." Boomer said. "Just remind me not to push that red button ever again."

"Count on it." Brick said. "Now where are we?" The two surveyed the land and saw that it looked like the ruins of a city. Brick was the first to notice the sign which read "Welcome to Viletown." And between "to" and "Viletown" some wit had written "Your doom in".

"I don't like the look of this place Brick." Boomer kicked away a rock and noticed too late it was not a white rock but a human skull which turned into a fine powder as soon as Boomer kicked it.

"I hear you bro." Brick said. "I say we start looking about, see if there is anyone alive here and if they can tell us how to get back to the professor."

* * *

"Come out Butch we know you're here, we just want to play." Brat was sitting on the rubble of the walls that once surrounded oakeypoke's kindergarten watching as her sister did the hard job of finding their favourite toy.

"I can hear breathing Butch might as well come out and make it easy on yourself." Brute laughed as the breathing noise stopped. "Oh come on how long can you hold your breath really?"

"I don't have to!" Butch shot out from behind the remains of a column and pushed his fit into Brute's face. The punch was a massive one that sent Brute flying away into the distance. Butch wasted no time before attacking Brat, he jumped off the column he had been hiding behind and fired his optic blasts at Brat.

"You will so pay for that." Brat said as she had to jump of the wall to avoid been hit by the optic blasts. "You should just be a good little boy and die like your brothers did."

"I will destroy you PowerPunk's if it's the last thing I do!" Butch flew up to Brat and hit her with a double overhead strike. The blue punk was sent crashing to earth where Butch fired a green wave of energy from his hands. The wave hit and then exploded in a ball of green fire and smoke adding more destruction to all ready ruined city.

"Yes I got her!" Butch punched his fist in the air just seconds before he was hit in the back of the head by Brute's foot.

"You forgot about me wonder boy!" Brute yelled as Butch went tumbling down to the earth. He did not actually touch the ground as Brat came up to me him with a painful knee to the gut.

"I am going to make you suffer for that attack Butchie baby." Brat said as Butch made a few wheezing noises as his lungs tried to remember how to work. "Brute lets give him a work out." Brat pushed Butch back with one hand, smiled and then punched him the face as hard as she could. Butch zipped through the air into the waiting arms of Brute who hit him with a haymaker punch from the depths of hell its self. There was only a moment to get to grips with this new pain before Butch bounced off the wall of what remained of an old office block.

"I was hoping he might have a little more fight in him." Brute said when she saw Butch was crawling away for cover.

"Try insulting his brothers, it usually fires him up." Brat suggested with a wicked smile across her face, making what should have been beautiful hideous.

"Maybe later, for now lets play with Wonder boy a little more."

Butch managed to get into the ruins of the subway, not the best hiding place but it might do enough until he could catch his breath before making a break from freedom. He slumped down on the wall and bowed his head while listening out for any sign of those girls.

"Ohhhh Wonder boy come out and play with me, or are girl games to tough for you." Butch could just hear Brute above his head smashing possible hiding places and blasting the others. Butch gave a quick salute in the direction of the chaos before he started to stumble down the remains of the subway. He would have followed it as far as it went but there was a huge blockage only a few meters down the tunnel. He could try blasting his way through it but that would let the PowerPunk's know where he was. His only choice was to go topside again and try to sneak past the girls, he had done it before.

On the surface once more Butch kept low and started to run through the remains of Viletown trying to be invisible. Brute was still destroying things near where Butch had crawled away so there was a hope that he might make it. This hope was dashed when he came to a corner and saw a mirror flash light at him. It was a small compact and been held at an angle to see round the corner, and Butch was right in it.

"Peek-a-boo I see you Butchie." Brat moved the mirror to face herself once more before clicking it shut. "Remember when I killed Boomer, how he screamed for help and you just ran away? Now those were good times." Butch felt the rage fire him up, giving him a new strength like it always did, and like it always did it was not enough for him to beat two PowerPunk Girls.

"Out of my way you bitch!" Butch charged Brat and hit her with a few good swing punches that would have killed anyone else but a PowerPunk.

"That wasn't very nice Butchie." Brat retaliated with a kick of her own, hitting the sensitive bundle of nerves in the solar plexus. Butch doubled over with pain before he was hit with a sonic scream so loud it almost ripped his ear drums to shreds. The sound waves hit with the force of a nuclear blast and Butch found himself embedded into a wall of concrete.

"Is the poor baby hurt?" Brat asked as she pushed up against the immobile Butch. "Let me kiss it better." Brat pecked Butch's cheek making his skin crawl with revulsion.

"I hate you." Butch said as quietly as he could.

"What was that Butchie I just couldn't hear you?" Brat put her ear right up against Butch and waited for him to repeat what he said.

"I said…" Again he said this in the quiet voice but then Butch snapped his head up and fired his optical lasers at Brat. "I HATE YOU!" Butch screamed the last three words out with all the anger and hate in his soul and then hit Brat with all the energy his eyes could make. Unfortunately just before the blasts could hit Brute had shown up and pulled Brat out of the way.

"You owe me now Blondie, I am thinking big time here… like listening to my poetry." Brute said as she pulled Brat to safety.

"Oh gag, angsty Goth poetry." Brat put a finger in her mouth and made a gagging noise.

"We can talk about it as soon as we deal with Wonder boy." Brute dropped Brat and turned her full attention to Butch who had escaped the wall and was making a mad dash for freedom. "No you don't Wonder boy, not today." Brute started to spin round as fast as she could making a green twister appear. Brat saw the attack and quickly grabbed onto something solid. Butch ran a few more steps before he felt the tug on his clothes, the pull of a cyclone.

"Ah crap the chaotic cyclone attack!" Butch leapt for the nearest wall but it was too late as he was sucked into the green tornado. Bits of rubble whizzed round with him going at a hundred miles an hour and hitting him with the same force of a cannon shot.

When the attack was done Butch fell from the air and crashed on the ground with a sickening thud.

"Well that's him done for; who shall we play with next?" Brat asked when Brute stopped spinning.

"Wonder boy aint through yet, not by a long shot… take a look cheerleader." Brute pointed to Butch who was trying to push himself back onto his feet.

"His brother was the same, would not know when to die, but he learned in the end." Brat said firing a laser blast from her hands as she talked. Butch flipped over backwards when the energy hit him and landed now on his back.

"I say we finish him here and now." Brute said as she looked at the helpless Butch.

"If we kill him on our own Berserk will be pissed off royally." Brat said in tone that made it sound like she gave a crap what made Berserk happy or not.

"Yeah won't it just." Brute said as she started building up the energy for the fatal attack.

"She would only hog him anyway." Brat said as she started to build up an attack of her own.

Butch could see the two energy balls been formed and knew if he did not find a little extra energy soon he would me a dead duck and then all chance of avenging the RowdyRuff Boys would be gone. He tried to call up the images of his brothers dead and mangled bodies been displayed by the oppressor but his mind came up with nothing but the two energy balls. Then a miracle happened.

"Bye, bye Wonder boy." Brute was about fire first when she was kicked in the face so hard her eyes seemed to shake in the sockets.

"Huh?" Brat grunted as she saw Brute smash though the rubble and just before she was hit in the side with an earth shattering punch.

"No way this cant be…" Butch said when he saw who his rescuers were.

"You all right dude? Looks like they really did a number on you."

"Boomer pay attention this fight aint over yet." Brick said as he went after Brute to make sure she would not get back up.

"Sorry Brick my bad." Boomer said. "You take it easy Butch we can handle these two." Boomer flew off after Brat leaving Butch to his confusion.

* * *

"But I killed you!" Brat screamed when she saw Boomer come in with a volley of energy blasts aimed for her.

"Is that so, well then I guess it's only fair I return the favour." The energy waves hit Brat with the force of the sun its self burning at her skin. "Not so tough now it's a fair fight?" Boomer laughed as he drove into the smoke to keep attacking.

Meanwhile Brute was also shocked to see what looked like a dead man flying at her.

"Must have hit my head because that looks like Brick." Brute was then hit in the head by Brick's left hand and in the gut but his right hand.

"Welcome to Karmic retribution, population you." Brick said when he kicked Brute back with a spinning side kick.

"This is impossible, I saw you die… I even nailed your body up to the tallest building in Viletown!" Brute could feel the warm sting of blood trickling down her mouth as she talked, and there was a ringing in her head that would just not quit. It had been a long time since she was in a fight where she was not the clear cut winner, and an even longer time since she had been really hurt in a fight.

"Well that wasn't very nice of you." Brick grabbed her arm and swung her as hard as he could, throwing her right at where Boomer was fighting Brat. "Boomer Ping-Pong now!" Brick shouted and Boomer reacted right away. He stopped punching Brat and span round backhanding Brute just before she collided with him and sent her like a missile back to Brick. Brute tried to stop herself but she could not do it before Brick smashed his elbow into her chest and let her grind across the ground.

"Give up yet?" Brick asked.

Boomer decided Brat had had enough and launched her down to where Brute had landed earlier.

"Sorry to be rude but you two look like crap, while me… well I haven't even broken a sweat yet." Boomer was lying a bit, he had been going full out and was starting to feel it but after the girls had tired out fighting Butch and with the element of surprise on his side, well it looked like a good day for the RowdyRuff Boys.

"Erk, you'll be sorry when we come back with Berserk and kill you… again." Brute said as she and Brat got back up to her feet. "But you win for now." Brute threw an energy ball down on the ground and it exploded in a great flash of light and smoke. Brick blew out with the force of a hurricane and cleared the air in seconds but that was what the PowerPunk Girls needed to escape.

"Should we go after them Brick?" Boomer asked as he just caught sight of the two fleeing PowerPunk's.

"Nah waste of time they are miles ahead." Brick answered and then bellowed so loudly that even the PowerPunk's could hear him. "Run girls coz the boys are back in town!"

"Dude nice delivery." Boomer said. "I give it an eight out of ten, loses something due to the corny factor."

"How can this be?" Boomer and Brick turned round to see Butch had made it back up and was looking at them in disbelief. "You're both dead."

"Dude, so are you." Brick said. "But you can never keep a good RowdyRuff down."

* * *

After moving on to somewhere less likely for the PowerPunk's to come back, this time as a trio instead of a duo, Butch told his story.

"I was created by Jomo Momo along with my two brothers Brick and Boomer, the RowdyRuff Boys whose soul mission in life was to stop the evil PowerPunk Girls and Oppressor Plutonium. And for a while we did good, the resistance was moving along at a good speed and people were daring to hope again. That was until the Oppressor stopped playing fair and played as dirty as he could." Butch took a moment to reflect then went on with the story. "He set up a trap for us, luring us in with the PowerPunk Girls and then hitting us from nowhere. He made some sort of antidote XY ray which would take away out powers. We were all going to be hit but Boomer saw it at the last second and pushed me out of the path of fire. Both Brick and Boomer were hit and lost their powers leaving you… them as easy prey for the PowerPunk's. I tried to save them but Brick wouldn't let me… he said "Butch run, hide and live that's an order!" it was the last one he ever gave me and I followed it. I ran for my life leaving them both behind me to die at the hands of those twisted bitches. I can still hear them screaming for mercy while they were tortured, I think I will die hearing those screams."

"Hey easy dude I know if I was there I would have made you do the same thing, better to live and fight another day." Brick said.

"Thanks." Butch said. "Well after that there was little left in the resistance, and after some time I became the only resistance. I do the best I can but… but its three against one all I can really do is run and hide. One of their favourite pass times is to hunt me down and torment me. I have been fighting them alone for so long now and I don't think I can hold up much longer."

"Well you 'aint going to fight them alone anymore dude." Brick said. "You got us again if you want; let's see how those PowerPunk's do against the RowdyRuff Boys this time!"

"Yeah let's show them that you can mess with the RowdyRuff Boys and live to tell the tale." Boomer said putting his hand on top of Brick's. They both looked at Butch and waited to see what he would do, would he join up with them again or would he want out.

"Ah hell I'm a RowdyRuff Boy until the end." Butch put his hand on top of both Bick and Boomers. "But if anyone starts singing "We are the champions" I reserve the right to kick their butts."

"You got a deal Butch." It was just then that the sky seemed to rip in two and the PowerPuff Girls came through the dimensional gateway.

"There they are." Blossom said.

As soon as Butch saw the three girls coming he let go of his brothers hands and started to rush them.

"Damn it the PowerPunk's found us already." He might have made a very ugly scene if Brick had not grabbed him round the shoulders and held him back.

"Chill dude these girls are cool." Brick said. "They are not PowerPunk's but PowerPuff's and helped us out a lot."

"They look like PowerPunk's to me." Butch muttered but he stopped struggling against Brick.

"Look I trust them so if you trust me you won't attack them." Brick said.

"Ok fine I'll trust you Brick." Butch said but he refused to get near the PowerPuff's the whole time they were there.

"Is that Butch?" Buttercup asked when she saw him walking off to avoid talking to people who looked like copies of his worst enemies. He looked just like the Butch of their world except his haircut was back to a cowlick and not a rip-off of Vegita's.

"Umm sort of he is a Butch but he comes from this world and not our one." Boomer said.

"Speaking of our world we better hurry back, the portal could close anytime now." Blossom said.

"We're not going back Blossom, not yet anyway." Brick said.

"What?" Blossom gawped at Brick. "Why not?"

"Blossom this place needs us, we have a brother who needs our help and I don't think they would welcome us back home just yet."

"That's not true you're good guys now." Bubbles said.

"Come one Bubbles just yesterday we were blowing up the city and trying to kill you three. I don't think they will welcome us back with open arms just yet." Boomer said.

"Boomer's right if we stay here it gives time for things to smooth over back home." Brick said. "Besides here we can do some real good, make up for what we did and maybe even find redemption."

Blossom remembered what the professor had said about the boys staying could lead to trouble. If they stayed here no one could ever arrest them and they might be able to stop the girl's evil counterparts.

"If you guys are sure then you can stay." Blossom said.

"We're sure Blossom." Brick said. "Don't worry, we will come back home just as soon as we kick the PowerPunk's tail across the galaxy."

"Sorry dude that gets a four, its lame and I think it's been used before." Boomer said. "See you around girls." Boomer made a little wave before he jogged off to talk with Butch.

"I thought the line at least deserved a six for effort." Brick mumbled to himself. "You three better hurry if you don't want to be staying with us for the next couple of days."

"See you around boys." Bubbles said as she flew through the portal.

"You better come back; I got unfinished business with the three of you… and give that Brute a good kicking for me." Buttercup said as she went through the gateway and back to the real Townsville. That left Blossom and Brick alone.

"Don't worry we'll come back before you know it." Brick said smugly. "Scouts honour." He made a quick salute and then crossed his arms and waited for Blossom to go. Blossom just stood there for a few seconds then put both arms on Brick's shoulder and kissed him on the cheek. Instantly Brick's head seemed to spin and all the blood in his body rushed to where Blossom's lips had touched him.

"You better come back." Blossom said before leaving the stunned Brick and going through the portal just before it closed. Brick found himself rooted to the spot unable to do anything but replay the kiss over and over again in his mind.

"Look who's got a new girlfriend." Boomer called. "When is the marriage Brick?"

"Cut it out Boomer." Brick said and Boomer just kept jabbing at Brick who was getting madder and madder as it went on.

"Can I be the best man? And help you pick out your wedding dress?" Boomer laughed the whole time as they walked down the road.

"Boomer if you say just one more thing I will start hurting you and I cant promise that I will stop." Brick said shaking his fist at Boomer.

"Yeah I missed this kind of thing." Butch said with a smile as Boomer made one final jab before he started running for his life with Brick chasing after him. "Yup missed it a whole damn lot."

END

Thanks for reading this, now please review.


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